


Crossroads, Cats and Coffee

by allmyworldsastage



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Cats, Coffee, F/F, Femslash, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 13:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11291217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmyworldsastage/pseuds/allmyworldsastage
Summary: Moving in with someone is the strangest thing.





	Crossroads, Cats and Coffee

* * *

 

**Kathryn Janeway’s Personal Log, August 5 th, 2381:**

Moving in with someone is the strangest thing. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I’d love to do more. I can’t wait for the minute I’m finally closing the door of this apartment behind me. I’ve lived here for about three years and it never really felt like home. Hell, my quarters on Voyager felt more like home than these rooms. But still, there’s so much stuff I’ve accumulated over the last couple of years, more books than I have the time to read, more clothes than I get the chance to wear, more decorations and art objects (most of them  well-meant gifts by visitors both wanted and unwanted) than I can be bothered to appreciate. Space won’t be a problem at my- _our_ new place. Even if I bring all of my stuff and she brings all of her stuff, there’ll still be plenty of room in the house. Room we can fill with new things, _our_ things, room in which we can make memories, in which we can build a life. Together. I’m looking forward to it and I know she is, too. Most of my stuff is packed already, but I think I will go through the boxes again and I’ll only take the things with me that really mean something to me and that I really _want_ to keep. I have a hunch that it won’t be all that much. All that _really_ seems to matter is the time I get to spend with her. So yeah, moving in with someone _is_ strange, because when it’s with the right person, it’s not really about combining two lives, but about creating a new life together.

 

**August 12 th, 2381:**

“Kathryn, love, are you sure that’s everything?” Beverly gestures towards the five boxes piled up in the middle of Kathryn’s old living area waiting for removal.

“Absolutely.”

“But what about the rest of your stuff? Don’t you want to keep any of it?”

Kathryn puts her hands on her hips and looks around one last time.

“No. Not really.”

Beverly smirks at that.

“Didn’t you once tell me you were a collector of sorts? I vividly remember having quite a hard time tempting you away from that antiques market we visited on Caldos.”

“Your arguments were very convincing, though,” Kathryn smiles suggestively. “And you’ll be pleased to learn that I did in fact pack the figurine and books we found there. It was our first holiday together after all. But there are some things I just don’t need any souvenirs of.” With that she steps towards Beverly and embraces her lightly. “Besides, I get to live with you. What else could I possibly want?”

Beverly plants a quick kiss to Kathryn’s lips.

“How about that most decadent coffee maker we saw the other day?” she then teases.

Kathryn rolls her eyes good-humouredly. 

“Yes. Well. Maybe that. Do you think there’s a chance anyone will get us that thing as a housewarming gift?” she asks, intrigued by the idea.

Beverly laughs.

“Well, I’m afraid such a generous gift calls for a more suitable occasion like a w…” She pauses all of a sudden and then moves away from Kathryn muttering something about the whereabouts of Chakotay and Tom and weren’t they supposed to come help them pick up the boxes?

Kathryn grabs Beverly’s hand and pulls her close. She knows the fluttering feeling in her chest. It was there, too, when she and Beverly first kissed, a little over two years ago.

“What was that?” she asks.

“I was wondering where our little helpers are.”

“They’ll be here soon enough.” Kathryn caresses Beverly’s cheeks and her chin coaxing her to look her in the eye. “I meant before that. _A more suitable occasion like a_ …”

“Oh, anything really,” Beverly quibbles. “Anything that’s more festive than a housewarming.” She then brushes her lips against Kathryn’s and, for a moment, Kathryn allows herself to be distracted. She’s not willing to let Beverly off the hook that easily, though, which is why, when they finally break apart, she asks,

“And what festive occasion did you have in mind specifically? You wanted to say _wedding_ , didn’t you?”

Kathryn has her arms around Beverly’s neck so that she can’t really turn away. Instead, Beverly lets out an exasperated sigh. Her eyes, however, are soft.

“Can’t you just let it go? For now?”

“I don’t think I want to. I’ve thought about asking you, too, you know.”

“You have?” Beverly seems genuinely surprised and it makes sense in a way. For Kathryn there is no doubt that she will spend the rest of her life with Beverly, and she is absolutely sure that Beverly knows that and feels the same way. But Kathryn has never been very vocal about it. She feels much more comfortable with simply showing Beverly how much she means to her than with actually putting words to the whirlwind of emotions she feels for the other woman. She just always assumed that, after buying a house together, they would eventually get married as well. She now wishes she’d been more outspoken about it.

“Of course I have. I love you, Beverly, and I’m yours and…” Kathryn stops talking, waiting for Beverly to smile and nod at her. She takes that as permission to go on. “And nothing would make me happier than to become your wife, if you will have me, that is.” Kathryn pauses again. She’s on the verge of tears which gives a blurred edge to Beverly’s radiant smile. “Will you marry me, Beverly?”

“Yes. Yes, I will and not a living soul can keep me from doing so.”

For the longest time Kathryn is only aware of Beverly’s tight embrace and of her messy kisses, salty because of their shared tears. Then a deep voice reaches her ears.

“Wasn’t that supposed to happen at the housewarming on Saturday? And the other way round?”

Kathryn and Beverly part without completely letting go of one another and turn towards the door. Chakotay comfortably lounges against the doorframe and Kathryn thinks that his broad smile probably equals her own.

“Well, this one,” Beverly points at Kathryn, “is far too stubborn to let me get away with my carefully planned proposal.”

“What a shame,” Chakotay chuckles. “I was looking forward to the balloons, and the cake, and the song.”

“Not to mention the dance and the flowers,” Beverly adds.

Kathryn looks between the two in disbelief and with every word she feels more certain that they are pulling her leg.

“You’re kidding, right?” she still asks.

“Are we?” Chakotay shrugs innocently.

“Beverly?” Kathryn demands of her…fiancée.

“Don’t worry, dear,” Beverly laughs. “There was no elaborate plan. I did intend to ask you, though, and in Chakotay I had a trusted confidante.”

“I should have never let the two of you meet,” Kathryn mutters while Chakotay pulls both her and Beverly into a hug.

“Congratulations,” he says. “I’m very happy for you.”

“I’m only ten minutes late,” Tom’s breathless voice comes from the door. “Why do I get the feeling that instead of managing to avoid work I’ve just missed something huge?”

 

**Beverly Crusher’s Personal Log, August 16 th, 2381:**

I haven’t been this hungover since…I can’t even remember since when. Long ago. It’s nearly noon and Kathryn is still asleep. It’s the most wonderful thing seeing her lying there, in our bed, in our house. It’s still a bit strange to actually live in a proper house. I’m used to poky city apartments as close as possible to the Academy or Starfleet Medical, to the sparsely furnished quarters on starships, never a room to spare, very little to no natural light, never a chance of getting outdoors without leaving the apartment block or the ship. And now I’m sitting at the kitchen table in a house Kathryn and I own together, the sun is shining in my face and I’m marvelling at the green grass and colourful flowers in our garden. From the upstairs living room we can even see the sea. We were really lucky to find such a beautiful house. And we were lucky to find each other. Everyone seems to think so.  

Most of our friends and family were here for the housewarming party yesterday and they all seemed so happy for us. Obviously, some of them couldn’t make it (I missed Deanna and Will, Alyssa, and – most of all – Wesley, and Kathryn would have loved for Tuvok and Seven to be here), but that’s what happens when you have your people scattered through the galaxy on starships, space stations and distant planets. We’ll have to make sure to announce our wedding date early enough so that we won’t have to get married without any of the people we’ll want to be there. We were thinking about next spring. Maybe- Oh. I think Kathryn is up. I’m hearing the shower. If she’s only half as hungover as I am, I’ll better make some very strong coffee.

 

**October 13 th, 2381:**

Kathryn returns from the computer console in their living room to the kitchen and hugs her fiancée from behind.

“Beverly, honey, I’m so sorry. I know we agreed to both take the whole day off, but I think I’ll have to drop by the office for just an hour or so. Something about a trade agreement the department can’t seem to handle without me.”

“Oh. Okay.” Kathryn hears the disappointment in Beverly’s voice and immediately starts to feel guilty. Which is ridiculous. Leaving Beverly alone with the dinner preparations for an hour or two is hardly worth mentioning, especially since Beverly usually regards her as more of a nuisance than an actual aide in the kitchen. Besides, once Beverly finds out what Kathryn is really up to, she’ll hopefully be very forgiving of her temporary absence now.

“Just don’t be too long?” Beverly puts down the spoon and turns in Kathryn’s arm.

“I’ll be as quick as I can. I promise.” Kathryn kisses Beverly and then whispers in her ear, “And I’ll make it up to you later.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” Beverly smiles and lets Kathryn go.

She’s almost out of the door when Beverly calls after her,

“Oh, Kathryn, depending on when you come back: your mother and Jean-Luc are both scheduled to arrive with the transport at 1600 hours. Maybe you could pick them up on your way back?”

“Will do!”

 

Kathryn arrives at the transport hub with twenty minutes to spare before she has to pick up their guests.

“Well, that leaves us enough time for a nice cup of coffee, don’t you think?”

Her companion doesn’t answer, only stares at her wide-eyed.

“You probably don’t drink coffee, do you? That’s alright. Coffee is a very important thing in your new home, but you’re welcome to live with us even if you don’t like it.”

Kathryn interrupts this rather one-sided conversation long enough to order a cup of black coffee to go and to sit down on a bench from where she can keep an eye on the arriving passengers.

“Just imagine,” she finally continues, “Beverly- oh, you don’t know Beverly yet, but you’ll meet her soon; you’ll love her. Anyway, she likes coffee, too, but more often than not she has tea instead. So you’ll be just fine if you like milk or water or- oh look, there’s my mum.”

Kathryn stands up and waves. She barely has the time to put down her cup before her mother gives her a bear hug.

“Kathryn, dear, it’s so good to see you. It’s been too long. It always is. How are you? You shouldn’t have come. I could’ve just taken a car. Let me look at you. You’re not working too much, are you? Of course you are. You’re just like your father in that regard. Is Beverly here, too, or is she waiting at home?”

Gretchen finally stops her torrent of words to look around searching for Beverly. Kathryn takes the opportunity to welcome her.

“Well, hello, mother,” she says pointedly.

Gretchen gives her a chiding look followed by a smile.

“I really _am_ glad to see you, Kathryn.”

“You too,” Kathryn says and kisses her mother’s cheek.

“Shall we then?” Gretchen asks.

“We’re still waiting for Captain Picard. He was on the same transport as you and should be here any second now.”

“Oh, I didn’t know he was coming. It will be nice seeing him aga-“ Gretchen falls silent all of a sudden and worriedly Kathryn takes her eyes off the hub’s exit to look at her mother just to find her eyeing her little companion suspiciously.

“Kathryn, is that…”

“Yes, mother, I’ll explain later. There’s Jean-Luc.”

 

Between saying their hellos and finding a hovercar to take them home the better part of an hour has gone by before Kathryn finally opens the front door to her and Beverly’s house and ushers Gretchen and Jean-Luc inside. She gives them enough time to greet Beverly and to congratulate her and waits until they’re all settled around the kitchen table with teas and coffees.

“Will and Deanna will arrive a little late,” Beverly announces and Kathryn takes that as her cue to ask,

“By the way, Beverly, do you think there’ll be room for one more guest?”

“What do you mean?” Beverly arches her eyebrows questioningly and Kathryn could kiss her just because she looks so adorably eager. For the moment, however, she contents herself with a smug little smile.

“Go have a look in the hallway. His name is Rudy.”

Beverly stands up and takes a peek around the corner into the hallway. She then looks back at Kathryn beaming.

“There’s a pet carrier next to the sideboard. Have you really done what I think you’ve done, Kathryn?”

“I really don’t know what’s gotten into me,” Kathryn shrugs and with an apologetic look towards her mother and Jean-Luc she follows Beverly out of the kitchen.

Beverly squats down next to the carrier and quietly says,

“Hi Rudy, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Beverly.”

The cat answers with a friendly meow. Kathryn isn’t surprised.

“We should probably put him in the living room, give him some time to explore and settle in without all of us humans hanging around,” Beverly suggests.

“Yeah, the lady at the shelter said something like that. I’ll go get the other cat stuff from the garden shed.”

 

Dinner is a merry affair, full of laughter, wine and animated talking. One of the more prominent topics is, of course, Rudy. No-one can quite grasp how it could’ve been Kathryn, dog lover par excellence, who was the driving force behind getting a cat. The truth is simple. Kathryn doesn’t hate cats; she likes them. She just likes dogs a little bit better. As long as both she and Beverly are working full-time, however, they simply don’t have enough time for a dog. Beverly must know that Kathryn was far from making a sacrifice with her surprise, but she’s over the moon anyway, and so Kathryn happily lets anyone else indulge in their bewilderment.

Rudy sort of rains on her parade, though, when he makes an appearance during dessert as soon as they have all quieted down a bit and are savouring Beverly’s birthday cake. The black-and-white cat sets foot in the kitchen carefully and then walks straight up to Kathryn butting his head against her legs. The guests observe the spectacle somewhat perplexed and Kathryn shares an amused glance with Beverly.

“You hungry, Rudy?” Beverly asks and catches the cat’s attention when she gets up to order a feline supplement from the replicator. He allows her to pet his head and digs in.

 

Hours later, when Jean-Luc, Deanna and Will have transported back to their respective ships, when Gretchen has been tucked away in the guest room, and Rudy has been sighted snoring on the couch, Kathryn and Beverly are lying in bed huddled up to one another.

“This was a lovely birthday,” Beverly remarks.

“I’m glad.”

“And Rudy seems to be really affectionate.”

“Yes, well. He was the only cat at the shelter remotely interested in me. He’s bound to adore you.”

Beverly chuckles at that.

“So the cat basically picked you?”

“M-hm,” Kathryn agrees. She’s already half-asleep.

“He’s got excellent taste then,” Beverly commends.

Kathryn may be sleepy, but she’ll never be too tired to tell Beverly that she loves her and to capture her lips in just one more, soft kiss.

 

**Kathryn Janeway’s Personal Log, January 3 rd, 2382:**

The holidays are finally over. There were a couple of occasions during the last two weeks when I longed for the relative peace and quiet of my office at Starfleet Command, but now that there’s only one night left before we have to get back to work and the daily grind is about to start all over again I could do with a few more days off duty. The hardest thing will be to get up early tomorrow morning. Beverly indulged me over the holidays, letting me sleep in whenever I wanted – not that I got the chance to do so very often with the never-ending stream of visitors we had. Beverly set her mind on properly celebrating the first Christmas in our new home and she can be very persuasive. What we hadn’t considered was just how difficult it would be to get our friends together during the holidays. Their schedules were tight and most of them have families of their own to visit. Which is why between Christmas and New Year’s people dropped in and out of our house at the oddest times, stayed just for a meal and a bit of catching-up, or for several days participating in elaborate holiday activities. I haven’t played that many board games in my life and I bet Rudy has never brought down so many Christmas baubles. Will, Harry, Tuvok and Jean-Luc  have suffused the house with music, and Miral and Alyssa’s little one have vandalised the kitchen. Beverly swears she’ll never let me bake cookies with the children again.

Funnily enough, Phoebe and B’Elanna teamed up and tormented me with suggestions for the wedding. They’re under the illusion that I’d be willing to wear a white dress. Beverly finds all of that terribly amusing. I guess I’ll let her deal with my mother’s ideas.

 

**March 24 th, 2382:**

When Beverly wakes up the bed next to her is empty. It doesn’t happen often that Kathryn gets up before her. It probably means that she’s still a little angry. As is Beverly. They had an argument the night before, about Kathryn working too much and them not really having much time for each other at the moment. It was stupid, really, but they both tend to be so damn stubborn. It’s just stressful at work right now, plus they have a wedding to plan. They agree on what they want and don’t want for that but it still takes time and effort to organise. Maybe they can manage to get away from it all for a weekend.

The chirping of the computer console attracts Beverly’s attention and the letter she finds waiting for her instantly raises her spirits. She puts on her dressing gown and makes her way to the kitchen because where else would she be able to find Kathryn at seven in the morning if not with the coffee?

And indeed Kathryn stands at the counter with her back towards the door and deep in conversation with the cat. Beverly stops at the door and just observes Kathryn for a while.

“Yes, Rudy. You’ll get your breakfast. But I need coffee first,” she mutters. “I’m just gonna make myself some coffee. I wish you could do it, you know.”

She puts water in the kettle (since they are counting on getting that coffee maker Kathryn wants as a wedding gift they still make it the traditional way every morning – of course, using the replicator would be much easier, but Kathryn insists that it’s just not the same) and contemplates Rudy who’s sitting on the counter next to her, licking his paw and patiently waiting for his breakfast.

“Let me ask you a question, Rudy,” Kathryn says. “Do you think you could make me coffee? Think about it. Here’s all you have to do. You take the kettle and fill it with water. Fill it up about half way. It’s not so hard. One paw, it’s down. You fill it up, one paw, it’s closed.”

Kathryn shows Rudy exactly what to do, but he seems quite unimpressed. In fact, he lies down and doesn’t even look at Kathryn.

“Excuse me, Rudy, I’m talking to you.”

He continues to ignore her and Beverly smiles as she watches Kathryn grinding the coffee beans.

“Could you at least grind the beans if I filled the kettle the night before, Rudy?” Kathryn asks the cat. “Look. You turn it on with your paw and it’s noisy but you wanna make sure you grind enough coffee because I like it very strong. You got it? Very strong. Okay? So you get it and finally turn it off. Then you gonna have to pull the coffee out. These are the grounds, okay? They smell really good, the smell of coffee is excellent.”

Rudy doesn’t seem to agree with Kathryn and leaps down to the floor. Kathryn puts a hand on her hip and sighs. She’s still completely unaware of Beverly studying her from the door.

“I understand, but you know, the way that you like those salmon treats, well, that is the way I like coffee. And in the morning I really like my coffee and so, you know how it is sometimes when you really want that salmon treat and you just have to have it? Well, I kind of feel that way about my coffee, okay?”

Rudy meows loudly.

“I knew you’d get it,” Kathryn says but Beverly suspects that he is just hungry. Kathryn puts the coffee into the filter and pours the water over it. Then she lifts Rudy up from the floor. Cradling him in her arms she shows him the steaming coffee.

“See, that’s all you’d have to do. Well, almost. We still need to froth up the milk for Beverly. I don’t know why but she likes it better that way. You’d probably agree, huh?”

Rudy wriggles out of Kathryn’s arms and sits down on the counter again while Kathryn pours two cups, one of them with a generous helping of frothy milk.

“And then, Rudy, all that’s left to do is to enjoy the coffee.” She takes a sip from her cup and the cat curls up closing his eyes. He’s tired of waiting for his breakfast.

“You wanna go back to bed?” Kathryn muses. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”

“Then why don’t you?” Beverly asks and slowly walks towards Kathryn.

“How long have you been here?” Kathryn hands her the other cup and looks at her sheepishly.

“Long enough to finally gather conclusive proof that you’re utterly ridiculous. And long enough to be reminded why I love you so much.”

Kathryn puts both their cups on the counter and hugs Beverly.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she says.

“Me too.” Beverly plants a kiss on Kathryn’s lips and mischievously rumples up her hair she already pinned up earlier. Kathryn scoffs at that but doesn’t say anything.

They return to their coffees and Beverly orders some croissants from the replicator.

“Listen,” she then says. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh?”

“Do you think you’ll be free this weekend? I thought we could spend it on Caldos, in the cottage. No work, no plans, no other people. Just the two of us. What do you think?”  

Kathryn ponders on that for a moment and Beverly half expects her to ask to postpone, but then a smile lights up Kathryn’s face.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea and I’ll make time to be home early on Friday so that we can leave then.”

The croissants become cool on the counter when instead of continuing to lay the table Beverly pulls Kathryn into her arms again. She kisses her, nuzzles into her neck and asks,

“What do you say we skip breakfast and instead get into bed again?”

“Another wonderful idea, love. You’re on fire today.”

 

When they are on their way to work an hour later, almost late but not quite, Beverly remembers this morning’s letter.

“Oh!” she exclaims. “I meant to tell you earlier. Wesley wrote. He’ll be here for our wedding.”

“Really?” Kathryn seems almost as excited as she is. “You must be so happy.”

“I am,” Beverly nods. “I haven’t seen him since… Deanna and Will’s wedding actually.”

“I’m detecting a pattern there,” Kathryn laughs. Then, with a more serious voice, “You know, Beverly, I really am looking forward to meeting him.”

Beverly beams at Kathryn and, with a quick peck on her cheek that makes Kathryn blush despite the fact that no-one is in sight, she releases her into her office before making her own way over to Medical.

 

**Beverly Crusher’s Personal Log, May 22 nd, 2382:**

Getting married is the strangest thing. It’s not as if anything is really going to change after today. Kathryn and I will be the same people, we’ll continue working too much, we’ll continue falling asleep on the couch together over a book or the news broadcast, we’ll continue bickering about whether Rudy is allowed to sleep in the bed or not (he’s not). I will continue mocking Kathryn’s attempts at growing tomatoes in our garden and she will continue mocking my attempts at putting together a small theatre group in our village. And then, of course, I will prepare glorious grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup made from Kathryn’s tomatoes, and Kathryn’s applause will be the most enthusiastic not only on opening night, but also after every other performance she manages to catch. I’m still nervous, though, and giddy with excitement. But maybe that’s _because_ nothing is really going to change after today. We will just continue loving each other and I’ll get to call Kathryn my wife. I’m looking forward to that. It’s almost time. I’m sure Kathryn will look beautiful today. She always does.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone is interested: Kathryn's conversation with the cat was inspired by this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH83ColNYr4


End file.
